Of Bows, Swords, and Masks
by Clairvoyance12
Summary: Instead of starting out as a shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo is trained by his mother in the ways of the Quincy. Which path will he choose and how will his fate unfold?
1. Chapter 1

-A/N:** Hey guys! This is a new idea that my brother and I randomly came up with. Here's the gist: Instead of Ichigo gaining his shinigami powers from Rukia, he learns the art of the Quincy (if that's even a thing) from his mother at a young age. There will be some personality changes from people that I won't mention right now ;) But this will be based on the anime/manga.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, although I wish I could...**

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><p>On the day of July 15, 1990, Kurosaki Isshin could be seen driving frantically around the traffic of Karakura Town.<p>

"Fuck! I'm so screwed! This traffic is shit!" was the uncharacteristic dialogue of Isshin given his personality.

"Masaki don't worry, I'll be there soon!" he promised as he preceded to increase in speed.

After ten minutes of swerving around cars down the streets, Isshin eventually made it to the hospital, where his wife was currently being held. He _really _hoped that he had made it in time...

"Which room is Kurosaki Masaki in?!" Isshin yelled while barging into the hospital, panting slightly. The nurse at the front desk looked at him bewildered. "Uh, she's at..." she started glancing at the computer, "room 302. May I ask what your relationship is to Mrs. Kurosaki?" asked the nurse, as she turned to look at the man who barged in, she found to her surprise that he was gone.

Isshin panted as he sprinted at full capacity toward room 302. He hated to think that he might be too late to see Masaki. Too late to see the birth of his first son...

"_**AHHHHHHH!**_" came the pained scream of Kurosaki Masaki who was currently experiencing childbirth.

Isshin hearing this, ran even faster towards the room. When he got there, he burst open the door. He froze, for he saw a _chair _coming closer and closer towards his face.

Isshin swiftly dodged, wincing when he heard the loud _crack _of the chair crashing into the wall behind him. Now that he thought of it, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave Masaki after all...

"**_Isshin, where the HELL have you _****_BEEN?!_**_" _screeched an incensed Masaki who was currently restraining herself from throwing more things.

Masaki's orange hair was damp with sweat, her face barely concealing the pain she was experiencing. The doctors- who had gawked at the now cracked wall- were coaxing Masaki so she would calm down. The stress couldn't be good for the baby after all.

Isshin sweat a bit under his wife's glare, quickly explaining himself. "I'm so sorry Masaki! There was traffic and the patient had a very nasty concussion. Apparently he had tripped on a rubber ducky and fell down, hitting his head on the corner of his table! And then _after that_-"

"Kurosaki-san. Please stop talking and come here. Your wife needs you." said one doctor, watching Isshin in the corner of his eye.

Isshin blanched, "But she's going to try and hit me again!"

The doctor waved his hand nonchalantly. "Whatever happens, happens. I'm sorry but I cannot go in between you and her... I value my safety too much."

Isshin stared at him disbelievingly, "You're a doctor though! Doesn't _my _safety count for anything?!"

"Not really. It's your own fault that she's mad at you anyway. Seriously, a rubber _ducky?_" the doctor said dryly.

"It's not my fault that my patients inflict themselves with injuries from weird objects!" Isshin snapped.

Masaki who was in a state of misery, quickly interjected. "How about you both shut up and get this baby out of me! _Now._"

Isshin and the doctor flinched and nodded. Isshin quickly found his place by his wife's side, grasping her hand tightly in his. Masaki momentarily forgot about her anger towards him and relaxed a little. The doctor nodded at her to keep on pushing. As it was, Masaki had dilated ten centimeters (for all those uncultured fools out there, this means the baby can actually get out), which meant that the baby would be popping out in a few moments.

"Okay. _PUSH!_"

Masaki nodded and pushed as hard as she possibly could. A scream ripped out her throat as she _felt _her baby starting to come out. She held on tighter to Isshin's hand, almost breaking it. He winced as his fingers cracked under the pressure of his wife's hold.

"Okay. One more time. PUSH!"

Masaki nodded again, tears slowly streaming down her face. She pushed once more, her eyes closed tightly. For a moment there was absolute silence. Then came a high-pitched squeal that filled the room. Masaki slowly opened her eyes, what she saw was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

In her doctor's arms was a bloodstained, orange haired infant. Through the pain, Masaki managed a smile, full with all the love a mother could provide. "He's beautiful... Isn't he, Masaki?"

She looked at Isshin, nodding with a small smile on her face. "Yes he is."

Masaki then looked at the doctor. "May I hold him?"

The doctor nodded, swiftly cutting the umbilical cord, before handing the baby to his mother, smiling slightly. Masaki cradled her baby against her, never taking her eyes off of him. Feeling the security that this woman seemed to exude, the baby quieted down and stared at his mother's face. Eyes wide open.

Masaki and Isshin smiled down at their little treasure. "Hello there. I'm your Kaa-chan and this is your Tou-chan. It's nice to finally meet you." The baby blinked at her slowly.

Masaki's smile widened when she heard the doctor ask, "What will you name him?"

Isshin and Masaki beamed, their eyes never leaving their child. "Ichigo."

The doctor blinked at them in question. "Strawberry?"

They shook their heads. "No. The one who protects. Our little Ichigo..."

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><p><strong>AN: Well that's a wrap! I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Anyway just so you won't be confused, the next chapter will be a timeskip. I won't tell you how it's been, you'll find out soon enough.**

**R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:** Hey guys! I'm finally going to update, sorry it took so long. I wanted to make it good.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

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><p>"Ichigo, I have great news for you!" yelled out Masaki, smiling.<p>

A now seven years old, Ichigo looked at his mother curiously. "What is it, mama?"

She smiled even wider at his curiosity. "We can finally start your training! I know how much you have wanted to start after you started seeing spirits for the first time, so I decided that you should get started now."

Ichigo's eyes widened. After he had seen his first spirit at the age of six, he had wanted for his mother to train him in the ways of the Quincy. It seemed like forever since she first said no, but he never let up on it. Constantly pestering her about, Ichigo had never thought about the event in which his mother would say _yes._

"Really?! I thought you'd never say yes!" said Ichigo, excitedly.

Masaki tilted her head to the side, "Well... It has been awhile and I don't want to completely deprive you of your birth right. But, remember Ichigo," said Masaki, suddenly serious. "Your Quincy powers will be used to protect, not to destroy. Your little sisters will be depending on you."

Ichigo nodded, eyes determined. Even at the young age of seven years, he had already pledged to himself that he would do _anything_ to protect his sisters. He would devote 110% to his training. Yuzu and Karin hadn't shown any signs of being able to see spirits yet. Therefore, it was his job to safeguard them from the nastier lot of ghosts.

Ichigo's train of thought was interrupted when he heard a loud _thunk _on the table that he and his mom were sitting at. He looked own to see a large, ancient book sitting on the tabletop. He looked at his mother questioningly.

Seeing the look, Masaki quickly explained. "This here is the Ancient Book of all Quincy techniques and the history of plus souls and hollows. From here on out, this book would serve as your Bible. First we will go over the weak spots on a hollow but before we do that... You must fully understand the difference between hollows and plus souls."

Ichigo nodded his understanding of her words, watching Masaki's actions intently as she opened the book with the utmost care. When she got to the page that she was looking for, Masaki pointed at the intricate drawing of a hollow.

"This here is a regular hollow that you would see the most commonly. They were formerly plus souls before they either lost themselves to despair, or stayed in the human world for too long. There are other kinds as well, of course. There is the Demi-Hollow, an earth bound spirit who is evolvng into a hollow. It's a slow process, but eventually they will turn into one."

Ichigo nodded. "Okay, then. There is also the Menos, right? Aren't they the hollows that eat other hollows to become stronger?"

Masaki nodded. "You are correct. There is the Gillian, also called the Menos Grande. They all look alike and by human terms, are considered to be foot soldiers. They are slow and have a beast-like intellect, but if you know how to defeat them, they shouldn't be a problem. But there is another kind of Menos, that are above the Gillian. They are called... The what, Ichigo?"

"The Adjuchas, right? They are more powerful than the Gillian, fewer in number, and they are the ones to order the Gillian around. They do not fight in groups, though."

She smiled. "Correct again! None of them look the same, but if they aren't eaten then they risk regressing back into Gillians. After the Adjuchas is the only type of hollows that I haven't told you about. The Vasto Lordes."

She turned the page of the book, to the last and most powerful classification of Menos there was. "They are roughly the same size as humans. Other than their need to cannibalize more hollows than the other Menos, any other requirements to be a Vasto Lorde are unknown. There aren't many, extremely few in number."

Ichigo nodded, "Okay, so if I see one, I have to run away?"

Masaki nodded, "Yes. In retrospect, you won't get very far, but miracles have happened."

He nodded again, "Okay, sounds fair enough. What about plus souls. What do I do with them if I see them?"

She shook her head. "You don't do anything. Just leave them there and a Shinigami will eventually send them to Soul Society."

Ichigo tilted his head to the side. "Shinigami? Soul Society? What are those?"

Masaki opened her mouth to tell him, but she closed it when she saw Isshin standing behind Ichigo. He shook his head at her, silently saying not to give anything away. She nodded in understanding, before looking back at Ichigo.

"You'll find out when you're older, let's just focus on the Quincy, okay?"

He nodded, a little bit confused at why she stopped herself before telling him about it, but it was soon replaced by the excitement of learning more about the the Way of the Quincy.

Isshin slowly walked out of the kitchen, comforted by the fact that his secret wouldn't be revealed that day. If Ichigo learned that the Shinigami were the ones to exterminate all of the Quincy and knew that his own _father_ was a Shinigami as well... He didn't know what his son would think.

There was also the _other _reason too. But... Ichigo never needed to know about that. _No one did._

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><p><strong>AN: Well that's it! I hope you all liked it!  
><strong>

**R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's another chapter of 'Of Bows, Swords, and Masks… I hope you like it **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

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><p>Ichigo panted from exertion, muscles straining. It has been a year since his mother had decided to start his Quincy training, and Ichigo had been making progress in leaps and bounds. So far he had learned of all the background knowledge of hollows, Quincies, plus souls, Soul Society, and even Shinigami!<p>

Masaki had been slightly hesitant in telling him about them. Ichigo guessed that it was probably because of the eradication that the Shinigami had brought down on the Quincies. But, Ichigo thought them fascinating. He could see the tactical advantage behind the extermination, the Quincy way of getting rid of hollows was shooting them with one of their arrows. Those arrows actually _killed _a hollow, it didn't send them to the afterlife like the zanpaktou of a Shinigami did.

_'It's a real shame though. All of the Quincy were killed except for a few that managed to survive the purge... I wonder if the higher ups in Soul Society know how much hatred and tragedy they wrought by doing what they did. Eh, probably not.' _

Ichigo was interrupted from his thoughts by his mother's voice. "Okay, Ichigo. Stop and take a break, you have been doing physical conditioning since dawn now."

Ichigo sighed in relief, collapsing on the grass. There was hardly any fields in Karakura Town, but Masaki had found one beside a nearby forest, right at the edge of town. A great find, which kicked off Ichigo's training.

Masaki smiled down at her son, helping him to stand up. "You okay? I know that's it's a stark contrast to what you are usually used to. I haven't been letting you build up the muscle mass that you will need to use at least half of the Quincy techniques..."

Ichigo shook his head, leaning on her for support. "Nah, it's fine, mom. If I don't train myself to be able to move around fast enough, then I won't live long as a Quincy. Though what else will I be learning this year? I mean, I can't build up a lot of muscle unless I want to stunt my growth, and I would like to grow taller."

Masaki laughed. "Don't worry, we won't be doing physical conditioning all the time. You will be learning katas, how to summon up spirit particles, spirit ribbons, etc. That kind of stuff."

He smiled widely. "Can't wait! Oh, but can I also learn how to break free from a bakudo? If someone who knows kido and tries to bind me, I will like to be able to get out of it."

She put a finger on her chin, contemplating. "Hm, well I suppose I could. I don't see the harm in it and it will be valuable knowledge that you can use in the future... So yes, you can learn that, too."

"Thanks, mom! Also, where are we going afterwards? Home, or Sandal Hat's place?"

"We'll be going to_ Urahara's _candy shop for the afternoon. I know how much you want to see Yoruichi, Ururu, and Jinta again." said Masaki, amused.

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Then what are we waiting for?!" he yelled, forcefully dragging all the way to Urahara's Candy Emporium. Literally, bypassing all traffic, safety rules, and common sense in his excitement.

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><p>Masaki rubbed her face, gulping in as much oxygen as possible. Three miles of running and her son looked like he just ran one mile, while being inside with air conditioning. She facepalmed, of course it would be <em>her <em>son that would be the powerhouse of the family. Sigh...

Ichigo hummed as he pulled hs mother inside the shop. Waving happily at the occupants that were inside for the day due to the heat. There was Urahara, Tessai, Yoruichi (in her cat form), 5 year old Ururu, and 2 year old Jinta were also there.

"Hey, everyone! How are you?" said Ichigo, eyes glinting mischievously.

Urahara held his fan to his face, eyes shadowed from his hat. "Ah, Ichigo-kun! What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"

Ichigo smiled, pulling his mother down to sit next to the man. "I was training, so I decided to go here and have some of Tessai's cooking." Ichigo looked up at the giant of a man, "Ne, Tessai! Can I have some of your famous ramen?"

Tessai nodded his head before swiftly turning around to the kitchen. He was a man of few words, so Ichigo already knew that Tessai would make the best dish just for him.

Ichigo looked around at the inhabitants of the shop, his eyes settling on Yoruichi. He gave a full blown smile at the cat who he grew very fond of over the past year. The cat could even _talk _if you could believe it!

"Hey, Yoruichi-san! How are you doing today? I hope that Sandal Hat isn't giving you too much trouble?" said Ichigo, ignoring Urahara's indignant squawk.

Yoruichi padded towards him. "Eh, Urahara is just being Urahara, so I'm used to whatever kinds of stunts that he pulls. I'm fine also. What about you? Haven't been giving Masaki grief have you?"

Ichigo frowned, opening his mouth to retort before he was cut off by his mom. "No, Yoruichi-san. Ichigo has been a very good boy, isn't that right, Ichigo?"

Ichigo nodded, grinning. "Mhm! Mommy also says that I'm progressing well in my Quincy training, too! Says that I might be ready to go through all the techniques that I have learned about by next year. Which also means I'll be a full fledged Quincy by the time I turn nine!"

Yoruichi gave an approving nod. "Ah, good job, Ichigo. Very impressive, indeed. It has only been a year since you started your training, I thought it would take a little while longer."

Urahara fanned himself absentmindedly, "What are you learning this year anyway? Masaki wouldn't tell me, unless you told me yourself."

Ichigo hummed, "Well last year I learned about hollows, Soul Society, Shinigami, plus souls, and the history of the Quincy. This year Mommy will put me up for physical training, katas, the summoning of spirit particles, and spirit ribbons. But, she also said that she'll teach me how to get out of a bakudo!"

Urahara blinked, exchanging glances with Yoruichi. "How to get out of a bakudo? Why?"

Masaki smiled slightly, "Ichigo wanted to learn how because he thinks it might come in handy for the future. So, I agreed. He is going to have to learn how to do that eventually, anyway."

They nodded, understanding. Tessai came out of the kitchen at the moment, a big bowl of ramen balanced on his arm. Ichigo looked up a him, smiling gratefully. "Thanks, Tessai! It smells delicious!"

He nodded again, putting the bowl on the table that they were sitting around, patting Ichigo's head when he was done.

Looking at this, Jinta pouted. "Aw, Tessai is nice to you..."

Ururu looked at Jinta, eyes blank. "Tessai would be nicer if you did your own chores."

Jinta stuck out his lower lip, before reaching up and digging his knuckles into Ururu's temples, hard. "Tessai can hear you!"

Ururu teared up, "Stop, J-Jinta! Hurts!"

Jinta then proceeded to make it even more painful. Only stopping when he felt the demonic aura of Tessai behind him. He slowly turned his head, terrified. "T-Tessai?"

Tessai looked down at him, spatula at the ready. "Step away from her, Jinta."

Jinta did so. "AAAHHHHH!" he screamed, running away from the demon that was Tessai to hide behind Masaki and Ichigo instead.

Ichigo laughed, oblivious to Jinta's immediate danger. "Now is not the time to hide, Jinta! You're two years old now, so I think you can take Tessai!" he pulled Jinta from behind, pushing him towards Tessai. Jinta looked on horrified. Since Ichigo was eight and he was two, that meant that Jinta would never be able to get out of the dragging. He cried out in his mind, _'Why couldn't I be stronger?!'_

Urahara was the one to come to his rescue. "Now, now Tessai. No need to be all demonic. You can punish Jinta-kun when he misbehaves some other time, don't you think?"

Tessai grumbled a bit, before nodding in agreement. He stared down at Jinta, silently telling him, "Next time it won't be so easy."

Jinta looked on, fearfully before nodding. He glanced at Ururu, "Sowwy, Ururu."

She nodded in acceptance of his apology, before crawling towards Ichigo. "Ichi, make sure you give your all in training!"

Ichigo nodded, mouth full of noodles. "Mm!"

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry that nothing really happened in this chapter, but I wanted to get some things down. Yes, Ichigo knows Urahara and the rest that live at the shop. I haven't decided if he knew that they were shinigami or not, but I'll decide by the next chapter. Until then, ja!  
><strong>

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